RED HEN PRESS Presents

I Dreamed I Was Emily Dickinson’s Boyfriend by Ron Koertge

This poetry collection easily solidifies Ron Koertge’s reputation as a poet who is very funny and also very serious. In these surprising and delightful poems, a mannequin joins the Me Too movement, a summer job turns into a lesson in class distinctions, and Jane Austen makes a surprise appearance at a mall. Ron Koertge’s uniquely playful imagination is on display in poem after poem.

PRAISE

“New and surprising poems—sly, inventive, and deeply good-hearted—that journey deep into the imagination’s outer limits. A mannequin talks about her job, Mickey Mouse shops for shoes, and the Bride of Frankenstein remembers herwedding night. Full of surprises and satisfying on many levels, I Dreamed I Was Emily Dickenson’s Boyfriend deserves a place in the poetry section of every heads-up reader.” —Billy Collins, author of Whale Day: And Other Poems

“Ron Koertge is a tenderhearted wiseguy wielding humor as a sword of truth. He's able to slip inside the minds of all manner of animals, cartoon characters, heroes, and monsters as they sorrow and rejoice and feel horny and grow old. A Barbie doll becomes an angry Old Testament God. A child's notion of Superman and Lois Lane's mutual devotion provides a little protection from full knowledge of parental infidelity. The Bride of Frankenstein erects a wall of NOs. Through his deft poetic mediumship Koertge illuminates our private lives and secret fears in liberating ways. His poems subvert expectations, resist easy closure, and admit what's poignant, funny, and heartbreaking about the hapless slapstick of being human.” —Amy Gerstler, author of Scattered at Sea

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ron Koertge, a longtime resident of South Pasadena, taught at Pasadena City College for thirty-seven years. A prolific writer, he has published more than thirty books of poetry and prose. Some of his most recent books are Fever (Red Hen Press 2006), Indigo (Red Hen Press 2009), The Ogre’s Wife (Red Hen Press 2013), and Vampire Planet (Red Hen Press 2015). He is the recipient of grants from the NEA and the California Arts Council and has poems in two volumes of Best American Poetry (1999 and 2005). A recent Pushcart Prize winner, he is also the author of “Negative Space,” the prose poem upon which the stop-motion film by the same name was based and was shortlisted for an Oscar in Animated Short Films in 2018.

Questions from Outer Space by Diane Thiel

Diane Thiel’s eagerly anticipated collection of poems, Questions from Outer Space, explores fresh and often humorous perspectives that capture the surreal quality of our swiftly changing lives on this planet. The poems travel through questions on many fronts, challenging assumptions and locating unique angles of perception.

This thought-provoking book reflects a deep engagement with the natural world, a questioning of our built systems, the expansive wilderness of parenting, and the complexities of navigating outer and inner space.

PRAISE

“Diane Thiel is a poet of unusual worldliness, capable of bringing biology, anthropology, and global travel to the mix. This is a strong new collection from a poet who has been expanding her vision and refining her art: ‘The seahorse in the brain / appears to be in charge / of memory and navigation.’ The objectivity of science mixed with a human concern for how we find our way. These are field notes from ‘the edge of reason,’ poems of intelligence and concern. Questions from Outer Space is a book tuned to deep experience of life on earth, marking the welcome return of a first-rate poet.” —David Mason, author of The Sound: New and Selected Poems

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Diane Thiel is the author of ten books of poetry and nonfiction, including Echolocations and Resistance Fantasies. Thiel's work has appeared in Poetry, The Hudson Review, The Hopkins Review, and numerous other publications. Her awards include a PEN Award, the Nicholas Roerich Prize, and a Fulbright. Thiel received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brown University and has traveled and lived in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia, working on literary and environmental projects. She is Professor of English and Associate Chair at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and lives in the Sandia Mountain foothills.